Posts Tagged ‘Theatre’

A few days ago, I caught my very first Cirque du Soleil performance. The name Cirque du Soleil has been around for 3 decades, but due to various reasons including costs (it costs a pretty penny!), I’ve never been able to watch one until recently. If you’re new to Cirque du Soleil, and have the impression that they return to Singapore every couple of years or so, note that it’s not actually the same show returning. The current one being featured at Bayfront is Kurios – Cabinet of Curiosities and is Cirque du Soleil’s 35th production since starting in 1984.

If you’ve never watched a Cirque du Soleil performance, now is the best chance because I am told that Kurios – Cabinet of Curiosities is one of the better performances around. A Cirque du Soleil performance is not just your average circus show with acrobats and death defying acts. It’s so much more than that. It’s music, it’s theatre, its drama, it’s beautiful costumes and of course heart-stopping jaw-dropping acts, all beautifully weaved together in a fantasy storyline and whimsical stage props. Speaking of props, there are 426 props in Kurios, the most of any production in Cirque du Soleil’s history.

This year, I have been trying to make it a point to actively check out new experiences instead of settling for the usual cafe hopping thing every weekend. So when PR Communications contacted me to check out Joe Labero’s magic show, I keenly accepted. I still remember the awesome time I had a gazillion years ago when my aunt and uncle brought me as a kid to watch David Copperfield in Singapore. I was amazed with the reality defying tricks!

Of course, watching a magic show as an adult would be quite different, and I was keen to see how Joe Labero would perhaps stun me like vegetable (oops…). Besides, the show would be held at the Jubilee Hall, and I was quite keen to reminisce the last time I stepped in there, which was in secondary school for my school play!

I watched Company last Friday. It was my 1st time in more than 5 years and I enjoyed being in a theatre again after so long!

Company, if you didn’t already know from my previous post, is a musical comedy based on a book by George Furth with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The original production was nominated for a then-unheard-of and subsequent record-setting fourteen Tony Awards and won six. The Singapore version, adapted slightly to suit our culture, is directed by Hossan Leong.

I won’t go too much into the plot, except to say that the musical revolves around Bobby, a 35 year old Bachelor who can’t seem to settle down. He has 5 couple friends, mostly married, and the musical revolves around each of the couples interaction with Bobby separately. My favourite scene has got to be the “Amy freaking out over her impending wedding with Paul” scene. Amy (acted by Petrina Kow) goes berserk and blurts out a gazillion reasons in bullet train speed why she can’t marry Paul, all in song form! It’s so hilarious and I can’t even begin to imagine how much Petrina must have practised to get all her lines right!

This scene alone is worth the price of the ticket! Oh, and the fact that you can ogle at Peter Ong who plays Bobby, the suave Malaysian with numerous operatic roles to his name. Oh wait, there’s even a “sex scene”…a few gasps were heard for sure. Thanks to my seat, which was 5 rows from the stage, I had great views of all the actors and actresses, although of course I only had my eyes on 1. The Drama Centre isn’t that big, so all seats should command a pretty good view. Oh btw, the set is really lovely looking. There is even a Steinway piano on the set!

When Dream Academy invited me to watch this upcoming musical, I was quite delighted. I did a quick calculation and realised that the last time that I have watched a theatre performance was back in 2007! It was a Crazy Christmas, held at the National Library Drama centre and I enjoyed the performance tremendously! To think that during my younger days I was Chairperson of my school’s English Drama Society. How terrible that I’ve totally lost touch with the ins and outs of our local theatre circle!

Anyway I’m really looking forward to watching Company, the musical next Friday! I’ll do up another post once I’ve watched the musical.

More about COMPANY

Dream World Productions presents its first production, COMPANY by the legendary Mr. Stephen Sondheim. COMPANY has won a total of seven TONY Awards, including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best Original Music and Best Original Lyrics in the 1971 Original Broadway production and Best Revival of a Musical in the 2006 Broadway Revival. Hossan Leong is the director for the Singapore version of Company. This super-funny musical comedy explores the pros and cons, the ups and downs as well as the ins and outs of being single. Join our talented cast as they try to persuade our hero, Robert, to do what our Government has been hard selling for years… Get married!